HOLLYWOOD, July 30 -- The Seminole Tribe of Florida built its gaming empire by challenging the federal government. In 1979, the tribe opened a high-stakes bingo hall near Fort Lauderdale that violated state law, then won the legal battle that followed, a ruling that eventually shaped the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 and enabled casino gambling across tribal lands nationwide. On July 22, the tribe's gaming arm did something it has never done in that history: it opened a gambling operation outside the United States.

Hard Rock Bet, the digital sports betting and online casino platform that the Seminole Tribe controls through its Hard Rock Digital subsidiary, went live in Ontario, Canada, becoming the province's 48th licensed iGaming...